


Strange Habits

by shopfront



Category: Dark Angel (TV)
Genre: Complicated Relationships, F/M, Getting Together, Leadership, Post-Episode: s02e21 Freak Nation, Terminal City, Transgenic Dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-15 09:40:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14788052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shopfront/pseuds/shopfront
Summary: Max prefers talking back to being in charge. Something that's made even clearer to her after the transgenics make their stand in Terminal City, leaving her in charge by default. Suddenly she realises she needs help figuring out what to do next - and who she can turn to.





	Strange Habits

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Marie_L](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marie_L/gifts).



> Thank you to S for the beta!

“If they wanted to go so bad, they should have gone when all of this started. Before the perimeter lockdown!” Max repeated through gritted teeth.

“I don’t know what you want me to say, Max. It's not that simple,” Alec said with a shrug. “Some of the transgenics that decided to stay have changed their mind, and they don’t see it the same way you do. Most people are still on board with the original plan, so nobody's forcing the issue yet. But there’s way more of them out there than there is of us in here... eventually we might not have a choice but to let them leave.”

“Hell no! Nobody can leave whenever they like without jeopardising the remaining supply routes for everybody else. If too many people start moving in and out of Terminal City, the sector cops and the guard patrols will spot them. Don't they get that we’re all in this together, now? If they get spotted, they’ll still be stuck in here with us - we’ll just _all_ be getting screwed!”

“You don’t need to tell them that. They understand the risks, Max,” Joshua interrupted quietly. Max gave him a weary, exasperated look, but he didn’t notice. He had a partially painted canvas propped in the corner of the room, and he hadn’t looked up from it when he’d spoken.

“I don’t think they do,” she said, speaking both to Alec and to Joshua’s back as she crossed her arms. “It’s not-“

Alec held up his hands. “Don’t shoot the messenger. I get it, Max. I do. But I can also see where they’re coming from. They want out, and you’ve shut down all of their escape options. Just because you want them to sit down and shut up about it now it’s done, that doesn’t mean they’re going to.”

Max sighed and rubbed at her temples. “Maybe we can work out a system to let a few people out here and there…. But it’ll have to be slow, and nobody can go right away! It’s going to be hard enough getting Logan and OC out and-“

“That’s only making them more angry,” Joshua interjected quietly.

“What?” Max asked.

“They want to leave. You let other people out but you won’t let them go.”

Max made a wordless, frustrated noise and started pacing. “It’s not like that. Logan and OC and Sketchy are human and they don’t have our engineered immunity to all the bugs here, if they stay much longer-”

“The others don’t care,” Joshua said. He finally put down his palette and turned sad eyes towards Max. “They’re scared and it’s humans that made them scared. They just want to go like I wanted to go, to come here.”

Max halted in her tracks. “Joshua,” she said sadly. “I told you that I knew I was wrong to stop you, right? It’s not-“

“It _is_ the same. You can’t just tell people where to go and how to feel.”

“Look, boo,” Original Cindy said, reaching out and tugging Max away from Joshua by her elbow. Max resisted the tugging at first, but slowly let herself be led away while Joshua turned back to his work. “We’ll just have to figure out some way for us to stay. I wouldn’t exactly mind seeing more of you, anyhow.“

“Yeah, and I can do just as much with the tech here as I can out there,” Logan said, joining in.

“No!” Max cried. She held up a hand for silence and breathed deeply for a moment. “No, you all have to leave here as soon as possible,” she said once she was calmer. “I don’t want to lose you and it’s already dangerous for you to still be here. Plus, there’s no guarantees on how long those supply routes will stay open. If you get stuck in here because someone made a break for it…. Besides, I don’t want to give Sketchy more chances to keep wandering around bothering people about interviews. One of these days he’s gonna get his head bitten off. Literally.”

Cindy snorted with laughter. “Hey, maybe he can use all that material to do you a solid with your public relations.”

Max rolled her eyes. “That isn’t exactly my first priority right now.”

“Maybe it should be,” Logan said. “What little info I’ve been able to get from outside says you definitely have a PR war on your hands. White and his buddies aren’t waiting around for you to be ready to face them down, literally or figuratively.”

Max just grimaced, but Alec shrugged a shoulder at her. “Man might have a point.”

Glaring, Max crossed her arms and returned to her attempt to stare Alec down. “Really? _Now_ one of us has a point you agree with?” she snapped. Then she waved him off when he opened his mouth to defend himself, and shook her head. “Urgh, never mind. The point is that there’s no take backs. They made their decision. They've left it too late to go to ground now, and Manticore gave everybody enough training to figure that out for themselves. I shouldn’t have to keep telling them!”

Alec’s face contorted. “I think it’s the training that might be the problem, actually,” he said dismissively as he stood up to go refill his drink.

Max made an impatient ‘go on’ gesture when he didn’t say anymore, and he hesitated, empty glass in hand.

“I don’t know, it’s just… we have so many different kinds of transgenics in here,” he said. He rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged, putting his glass down and returning to his place leaning against the wall by Joshua. “Everyone has different training, different engineering. Some of us were built to prefer to go it alone, or to stick with a unit. Some really were built to just go to ground when things get hairy, and they’re starting to remember that now. It’s a hodgepodge out there, Max. It shouldn’t be that much of a surprise no one can agree on anything.”

“But wasn’t the point of making a stand here to find a different way to do things?” Logan asked, frowning.

“Yeah, but-,” Alec said. He tilted his head and grimaced. “Look, the thing you gotta understand is that Max might have been speaking to them like she’s some inspirational figurehead or whatever. I’d bet good money that’s what you saw in her-“

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Logan asked loudly, but Alec just continued talking blithely without acknowledging him.

“But to us - to those people outside - she looked more like a commander. Someone who could step into the breach that Manticore left behind,” he continued. He waited a minute for his words to sink in, while he gave them all knowing looks. “You gotta remember. Unlike Max, we’re all still pretty used to following orders.”

“I don’t want to be anyone's commander,” Max said, looking uneasy.

Alec shrugged. “Maybe not,” he said, standing up and clapping her on the shoulder. “But you might not have a choice if you really want to keep ‘em here. Maybe they saw a leader in you, maybe they didn’t. But either way, they’ve had a few nights to sleep on it and now they’re second guessing this whole shebang. If you don’t calm them down, we’re going to have a massive problem on our hands.”

With that, he shoved off the wall again and sauntered out of the room.

“Maybe I don’t wanna calm them down. Maybe I wanna just let them get their stupid selves killed,” Max muttered under her breath. Then she sighed and turned to Cindy and Logan. “I’m sorry, guys,” she said. Cindy pulled her into a hug before she could say more but Max persisted, her voice muffled by Cindy’s hair. “This was meant to be a nice goodbye-for-now-party, not some strategy session.”

“Don’t even mention it,” Cindy said. She pulled back and shifted to Max’s side, keeping an arm wrapped tight around her shoulders. “We’re good, aren’t we, Logan?”

“Yeah, of course,” Logan said softly, smiling at them both. “We really can stay if you need us to, though.”

Cindy hummed in agreement, but didn’t protest further when Max shook her head. “And I appreciate that,” Max said. “I do. But Alec and Joshua and I will just have to figure something out. Right now it’s still mostly just sector cops out there. But with the National Guard backing them up and White’s buddies busy getting their fingers into things they shouldn’t be in, you really gotta go. Now.”

*

A few hours later found Max trying to rouse Original Cindy well before the sun was up. “Nearly time for shift change,” she said as she shook her again by the shoulder.

“I’m up, I’m up,” Cindy muttered. Max just smirked and pulled the blankets off her one by one until she groaned and staggered to her feet still fully clothed, fumbling around for her things. “Alright, now I’m really up. You people call this morning? Original Cindy is gonna sleep so deep when she gets home....”

“Come on, time to ship out to that warm comfy bed of yours,” Max said as she helped Cindy fumble with the fastenings on her jacket. “The others are probably already waiting for us.”

Faces peered out at them as they weaved their way through Terminal City. The streets and carparks they walked through were dark and quiet, broken only by pools of lamplight and occasional groups of people talking and laughing quietly. A few glares were aimed their way as they passed by. But in the early hours after midnight it was mostly just nocturnal transgenics going about their business, and most of them weren’t interested in stopping to gawk at Max and Cindy. There was still too much left to be done to make Terminal City comfortable, so the two of them didn't rate as much more than a passing curiosity.

Eventually, they reached the barricade. “I don’t know if I can do this without you,” Max finally admitted quietly as they stopped a few metres short of the gate to say their goodbyes.

“You got dawgy dog and you got Alec, you’re gonna be just fine without us,” Cindy whispered in her ear as they hugged. “And I’m only a phone call away if you need me, sugar. Logan promised he put up redundant receivers for the redundant receivers so we can’t be cut off. I didn’t understand most of what he was saying, but it sounded reliable.”

Max pulled a face as they separated. “I guess. I don’t know about having Alec, though,” she said with a snort. “You heard him last night, and he’s never exactly been a reliable source of emotional support.”

Cindy pulled a face right back at her. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Max asked with a frown.

Cindy raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, leaning back so that she could give Max the full effect of her flat stare. “You’re tripping if you think that boy doesn’t think the world of you, boo. His walls are just nearly as high as your own, is all. Don’t be pretending with me that you don’t see it. If you cut him even an inch of slack, I bet he’ll come through for you.”

Max eyed her up and down. “We better move quick, I think the toxins really are starting to get to you,” she said as she reached out to check Cindy’s temperature.

“Don’t play the fool, I’m only saying this for your own good,” Cindy said as she knocked Max’s hand away and pointed a finger at her.

“Alright, alright-“

“I’m serious, Max. I need to know you’re not alone in here. I know you’ve got Joshua and you know I love him to pieces, but Alec was really good about the Logan thing. I think you oughta give him a chance. Maybe he’ll surprise you.”

Max looked up the road to where the others were loitering near the barricade, very obviously pretending they weren’t impatiently waiting for the two of them to wrap up. As soon as she did, Logan looked over like he could sense her stare. He smiled at her tentatively.

A small group of X-5’s were comparing maps and supply lists beside him, working out a plan for how to move through the nearest parts of the city and be back before dawn broke properly. Logan stood a little apart, separate from the rest. Sketchy and Joshua weren’t too far away, either. Alec was beside them, watching and laughing as they seemed to be competing to talk each others' ears off. Every few minutes, Joshua would laugh so hard it was almost a howl, and Sketchy looked taken aback each time - as if he was suddenly remembering all over again that he was chatting with a transgenic.

Max took all of this in with a glance and then looked away. “I guess,” she muttered.

Cindy smacked her on the arm. “Don’t guess. Know. Now, give me one more hug before I have to go.”

Max did as she was told, and then stepped back so Cindy could approach the barricade. As she watched her walk away, she thought about following. Even raised a hand to wave at the others as she considered it. But they’d all said their goodbyes the night before, and hopefully it wouldn’t be forever. Just until things calmed down outside of Terminal City.

In the meantime, maybe it would be easier this way.

Once they were ready to go, Alec wandered over to stand with her and watch them depart. “You okay?” he asked a few minutes later as they watched the barricade come back down.

Max tried and then gave up on a smile. She watched as the panels were moved and Joshua settled into place to keep watch alongside the other people already guarding the barricade. He’d volunteered to hang around for a few hours after the group had left. They had to make sure none of the discontents in the city jeopardised this border crossing - of all crossings - by making a break for it.

“Always,” she said in a self-deprecating tone. But she bumped her shoulder against his as she said it, and Alec leaned into the contact.

“Come on. Dalton’s on breakfast duty today and I asked him to put a little something aside for us,” he said when he finally peeled away.

It took Max longer to tear her eyes from the barricade, even once the noise of the departing people had completely faded away on the other side. “I don’t think special favours at breakfast is gonna help people’s opinion of us any,” she called over her shoulder after him.

Alec was already well ahead of her by the time she turned around. But he spun and kept walking backwards so he could see her as he replied. “That’s tomorrow's problem!”

Snorting, Max shook her head. But she did follow after him, even though she had a feeling she might regret it. But right now Alec’s smile was bright and, despite herself, a fancy breakfast sounded good.

*

By the time the sun finally rose fully into the sky and light began to filter through the dirty windows of what had become their makeshift commissary, Max and Alec were firmly ensconced in a corner. Max had noticed a few more glares coming her way as people filtered through the room. But, by and large, most were heading straight for the food or to greet someone familiar and wish them a good morning. Occasionally Dalton slipped out from the cooking area and brought them something else to eat or drink. Never anything big, not that Max would have accepted it, supplies being what they were. But the crispiest piece off a stack of fresh cooked bacon or a warm cup of coffee had become luxurious indulgences since they’d made their stand, and they appreciated every gift.

“Mana from the gods,” Alec said, inhaling the steam off his latest cup before raising it in a toast towards Dalton’s departing back. “That kid’s got a gift.”

Max snorted. “What, for giving you free stuff? You just like how he hero-worships you.”

“What can I say? I’m very easy to worship,” Alec said, and then grunted when Max elbowed him. “Hey, watch it! You nearly made me spill my coffee and it’s not like there’s loads of the stuff to waste.”

Distracted, Max made some vaguely argumentative noises back at him as she returned to watching the room. After Alec had mentioned it the night before, she was noticing how the room was splitting into groups as people found their seats. She didn’t remember it being that way to start. There hadn’t been as many mouths to feed the first day, for starters. Most people already had spots staked out throughout the city for their belongings and they could still cook for themselves. Late arrivals and those who had still been making daily trips through the sewers into Seattle proper for food had needed more help, and they’d mingled more while they ate.

But supplies were already getting stretched. As more and more people flooded into the commissary for each meal, they seemed to be gradually splitting up the room into smaller and smaller territories.

“This is bad,” she murmured as she watched a young X-7 get shooed away from a table of transhumans. Next to her, Alec stopped grouching and sat up so he could follow her gaze.

“What? People are stuffing their faces, that’s what we wanted, right?” he asked with a terse laugh, but he kept his voice low as if he’d picked up on her unease.

“You were right about people sticking with their own,” Max said, ignoring his question as she examined the crowd. She crooked her finger at the kid as he looked around the room with a lost expression, beckoning him over. “Let’s go, we need to get to work.”

Alec spluttered as she stood up. “But I haven’t even finished my coffee,” he said mournfully as she yanked him to his feet.

“Drink while you walk. I’m sure it’ll be a real challenge for you to do two things at once, but try.” She waved goodbye to Dalton and nudged the lost kid towards their empty seats as she started towards the door. Dalton raised an eggy serving spoon at them in farewell, which made her smile. At least someone seemed unconcerned about their place in Terminal City.

Despite his grumblings, Alec was on her heels as she dodged a group of X-6’s and then nearly ran over Mole coming in behind them.

“Hey,” Alec said, and got a grunt in return.

“Come find me with dog boy later,” Mole said to Max.

Max raised her eyebrows. “You need something in particular?”

Mole darted a look around and grimaced. As he started to fish in his pockets for something, he shrugged. “Nope,” he said, utterly unconvincing about it and not seeming to care. Frowning, he stuck a cigar in his mouth and continued on his way without lighting it. “Just find me!”

“I’m hurt,” Alec said with exaggerated displeasure as Mole made a beeline away from them and towards the food. “You get a whole conversation and I don't even rate a hello. I thought we were friends.”

“What can I say,” Max said, smirking as she ducked around him. “Maybe I’m just more charming than you?”

His protests followed her through the doors, but Max just snickered and picked up her pace. 

*

The rooftops around her were empty, so there was nothing to mask Alec’s footsteps as he wandered up behind her. Night had fallen hours ago, along with any remaining hope she had about holding things together in Terminal City.

“It’s official. Mole reckons they only took my lead at the beginning because the cops were listening to me, and as he so graciously pointed out, there’s no cops here anymore,” Max said with a sigh. “I can’t exactly blame them. I am the poster child for sticking it to The Man, it’s just that I’m The Man now, I guess. Who saw that coming?”

“So you’re just giving up?” Alec asked as he settled down beside her and dangled his feet over the edge of the building. He didn’t seem surprised that she’d noticed him, but then she didn’t think he’d been trying to sneak up on her either. “I mean, I know Mole had a lot to say about your decisions and I’d probably give up after that roasting too, but….”

“You think I shouldn’t?” Max asked, frowning at him.

“Give up? I don’t know, Max,” Alec sighed. He leant forward and scrutinised the drop below them. “I can’t speak for everyone. But _I_ followed you, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, but you want your unit back,” she said wryly.

Alec blinked, startled. “What? I don’t-“

“Oh, come off it,” Max said with a scoff. “I’m not an idiot. I remember what you were like the first few times we saw each other after Manticore went down. Don’t pretend you don’t remember. When we were helping those kids escape White, you were watching pretty closely while I was telling them what to do.”

“Yeah, watching you tell them not to take orders from you,” Alec said. A muscle in his jaw twitched when Max turned her head to stare incredulously at him, but otherwise his lazy smirk didn’t fade.

“Yeah, and as soon as I said that you finally decided to bail,” she snapped.

Alec’s lips twisted. “Alright, maybe you’ve got me there,” he said slowly. “But that doesn’t mean-“

“Shut up, Alec. I know you better than that now,” Max said. Alec sighed and capitulated, and then sighed again when she raised both eyebrows pointedly at them. “I rest my case,” she said smugly. Reluctantly, he started to chuckle.

“I guess you’ve got me there, Maxie.”

Still chuckling self-deprecatingly, Alec looked sideways at Max again while he spoke and froze. They’d shifted closer as they talked. Max still hadn’t noticed though, too busy shaking her head in smug amusement as she gazed out at the Seattle skyline.

“Maybe I should have insisted on giving you nothing but orders from the beginning. Maybe then we really would’ve gotten along better,” she said. She leant sideways towards him as she said it, turning at the last moment as if to whisper in his ear - as if that was enough to ensure privacy from atop a building full of transgenics, anyway. But the words never came because, suddenly, she was also aware of how close they'd become.

Alec swallowed. “I dunno, Max,” he said softly, his eyes fixed on hers. “You also told me to buzz off plenty and I never listened to that.”

“Guess not,” Max said quietly.

Her eyes were wary, but the laughter hadn’t quite faded from her voice yet.He didn’t give it a chance to disappear completely. Before one of them could second guess it, Alec had leaned in and softly pressed his lips against hers. Too stunned to move or respond, Max didn't protest.

“Alec,” she said when he pulled back.

She furrowed her brow as she stared at him, but Alec just licked his lips and didn’t answer. After a beat of silence, Max placed her hand against his chest. She hesitated, just for a second, and then pushed.

He let her move him without complaint or resistance. “Yeah, Max. Okay,” he said quietly, already starting to slide back from the edge so he could get to his feet.

“Okay? What the hell, Alec?” Max asked, her voice raising in pitch with each word. The last of her amusement was gone as she glared up at him, looking equally as confused as she was angry.

Alec’s face shuttered completely.

“Oh, you know,” he said with his standard ‘aw, shucks, ma’am’ duck of his head. His lips stretched into a parody of his usual grin as he spoke. “This place is pretty boring. What’d’ya say?” he continued with a leer. “Shall we make a little fun of our own?”

Max’s expression turned stony as she sprung to her feet. “You’re disgusting,” she snapped. “There are people here who are scared, who don’t have what they need to get through the day and don’t know how to get what they need without putting everybody else at risk. But you just want to, what? Waste a little time getting laid instead of figuring out how to help them?”

Alec sighed. “Yeah, Max. That’s it exactly,” he said. He stepped back, moving fast to put distance between them. “Relax, would you? I was just trying to have a bit of fun. You ought to try it sometime, might help you clear your head.”

“Oh really?” Max asked. She cocked a hip and crossed her arms, preparing to face him down. Or maybe smack him upside the head. But he was still moving and before she could do anything he’d made it back to the door that had led him onto the roof. He spread his arms wide as he gave her a little mocking bow. The amusement had slipped from his expression by the time he straightened.

“I’ll leave the princess to command her troops alone then, shall I? I’m sure the other commoners are having some fun somewhere in this godforsaken shithole.”

Max faltered, dropping her arms. “Alec-,” she started to say, but he cut her off quickly.

“No, no, no. I’m sure you have far more important things to do.”

She opened her mouth to snap back at him that she did, actually. But before she could, he was gone.

Max sighed and turned back to gazing out across the rooftops. The view couldn’t hold a candle to sitting on the Space Needle, and the degree of solitude afforded clearly didn’t begin to compare, either. But she’d thought maybe it could afford her some small momentary measure of peace. Even if she was watching the flickering light of the border patrols, instead of an endless wide horizon.

Instead, she was just left with more questions than she’d started with.

*

After breakfast the next morning, Max gathered up the people she trusted most in Terminal City. Alec wouldn’t look her in the eye, though he did join them like she’d asked. But as she walked into the room, she noticed he was loitering by the back wall and ignoring her completely again. “I don’t want to lead this place on my own,” she announced before anybody had a chance to say something.

“Well, sure you don’t. I sure as hell wouldn’t,” Gem replied slowly. Her eyes were clear and assessing, but her expression seemed approving. Dalton was leaning against her shoulder and she ruffled his hair affectionately without looking away from Max.

Behind them, Alec straightened. His head had shot up from over his coffee when she started speaking, transforming him from casual flyboy to attentive footsoldier in an instant.

“If leading is what they need me to do, then that’s what I’ll do. But I think we can find a better way,” Max said to Gem. But her eyes were on Alec. He cocked his head at her for a moment, and then nodded cautiously.

Mole snorted, drawing everybody’s gaze to him in an instant. “Whatever,” he said. When they looked confused, he simply stared them down from his lazy sprawl in front of his heater. “Nobody asked you to do anything. In fact, I think you’ll find they’re asking you to stop doing.”

Max’s mouth flattened into a thin line. “Then what do _you_ think we should do, Mole?”

Mole’s eyes narrowed when Max lifted her chin and glared back at him. Slowly, he unfolded himself until he was staring down at her. But Max stood firm, and after a moment he nodded. “Let everyone lead themselves,” he said decisively. “It was working before you had your little standoff with the cops, so let’s go back to that. People should be sticking with their own kind. They won't cause as much trouble if they're comfortable.”

“Leading themselves and sticking with their own kind is what got us here in the first place,” Max disagreed, frowning. “Some things weren't worth the risks people took. If we’d had a clearer set of protocols for picking people up as they came in, maybe none of this would have gone pear-shaped in the first place. No offence, Gem.”

“Protocol works in the kitchens,” Dalton piped up, and then shrunk a little when everybody looked at him. “What, it does!”

Ruffling his hair again, Gem adjusted the sleeping baby slung across her chest and turned back to Max. “None taken. So what do you need, then?”

“Just your advice. I think you have enough to focus on,” Max said with a meaningful glance down at the baby.

“Maybe she doesn’t,” Alec said. When Max looked over he was lost in thought, his lips pursed and his eyes unfocused.

“Are you kidding me?” Max asked, rounding on him. "She has a kid to look after!"

“Hear me out, Max. Everyone’s getting restless ‘cause we’re running out of stuff and they’re worried we’ll all end up trapped in here like rats in a maze, right? So we need someone to strategize. Gem’s got the training to work out better protocols for supply runs and pick ups,” he said, suddenly refocusing his gaze on her and Gem.

“Think you’re only ones who can strategize, pretty boy?” Mole growled at him.

“Hey, I don’t mean to offend you big guy, but-“

“I do have more relevant training in strategy than any of you,” Gem said, looking between Max and Alec and Mole in turn. Her expression was thoughtful. “The X-5’s were more likely to be given leadership and co-ordination roles on missions. And unlike Alec and the others twinned to the escapees, I didn’t pull many solo missions. They made sure they had different skillsets to the rest of us, to keep them more disposable, so I know lots of things they never bothered to teach Alec.”

“We _will_ have to step up the supply runs eventually if we’re going to have any hope of feeding everyone, despite the risks of getting caught,” Alec replied, rapid-fire. He ignored the complicated look that crossed Max’s face, talking over any chance she had of asking questions about anyone's training.

‘“Right, and everyone’s going to have to pitch in eventually,” Gem continued, determination written across her expression. “I want to do my part, and it’s not like I can help with the actual runs right now with this little one in tow.”

“Everybody pitches in, then everybody picks someone to lead,” Joshua broke in, nodding enthusiastically. Mole rolled his eyes and turned away muttering, but Joshua’s enthusiasm grew as he spoke. “Not just Max leading. Everybody chooses, everybody talks with Gem.”

“That night, you asked us if we wanted to be able to walk down a street,” Mole said abruptly. “Most of us never wanted that, never thought the humans would let us have it. Still don’t.”

“He has a point,” Gem said. “Freedom means something different to everyone here, Max. We need to start looking past that, start looking at the day to day regardless of the patrols. At least until the sector cops come knocking on our door again.”

“Gem good at day to day,” Joshua said. Gem shrugged and smiled, but she didn’t disagree.

Max leant back against the wall as she felt a weight begin to lift off her shoulders. “Works for me. So what do _you_ need then, boss?” she asked Gem. “More skittles and beer?”

She was half-joking, but Gem was already nodding distractedly. The baby stirred against her, but she just re-adjusted the sling absentmindedly and kept talking. “Maybe we need to incorporate the people who want to leave into our supply runs.”

Mole frowned, his scales rippling. “Doesn’t seem smart to send unreliable people into the field,” he said.

“Maybe, maybe not,” Gem said. She started pacing, bouncing the baby lightly as she walked. “We could strike a bargain with them. We can’t compromise the supply routes by letting people leave all at once or whenever they want. But we could send a few people who want to leave along with a few people who will be returning. They could help requisition the things we need and then split up before the others come back. It’ll still be slow, but-“

“But we get something out of them going,” Alec said approvingly. “Yeah, he-ey, that’s a good idea.”

“Fewer people might want to leave if they see food coming in again,” Mole admitted grudgingly.

“We shouldn’t count on it, though,” Gem said. As they started arguing over whether it was even worth trying to retain people who had wanted to leave and might want to again in the future, Max slipped out of the room.

“Little fella,” Joshua said, following her out. “You okay?”

“Hey big fella,” she said as she turned back and pulled him into a hug. “Yeah, I’m good. Thanks for watching the gate yesterday.”

She felt Joshua shrug as he held her close. “Wanted Logan and Original Cindy to get home safe,” he rumbled above her.

“Yeah, me too,” Max said. She leant back and smiled up at him.

“Alec seemed sad,” he said seriously, looking down at her.

“Did he? I didn’t notice,” Max said. Joshua gave her a flat look in response and she just glanced away, avoiding his gaze.

“Max should talk to Alec,” Joshua said, running his hand gently over the top of her head.

“But I don’t think Alec wants to talk to me,” Max said dryly.

Joshua gave her an unimpressed look as he stepped back through the doorway. “Alec does,” he said, and then he shut the door behind him and was gone from view.

“Alec doesn’t,” Max muttered mulishly. But she sighed and lingered a little while, shoving her hands deeply in her pockets as she watched the closed door.

*

Max was the one who had to hunt down Alec later that night. He’d dodged her, slipping out a back door to the room that she hadn’t been paying attention to. But eventually she'd tracked him down to where he was perched on a rooftop, sitting silently under a cloudy night sky.

“What? You want to make sure you still have the rooftop monopoly in this place or something?” Alec asked warily as she crawled through a window to join him. “I’m pretty sure this isn’t an escape route you need to worry about. I haven’t noticed anybody here with a working set of wings, yet.”

Max shrugged as she settled in beside him. “Not like I need to worry about it now, anyway. Escape routes are officially Gem’s problem.”

“Or Mole’s,” Alec said, a note of glee breaking through the exhaustion audible in his voice.

“They still keep arguing after I left?”

“Like cats and dogs,” Alec said. He turned his head to hide it, but she caught a fleeting glimpse of a grin on his face. “They even woke the baby. Dalton eventually got fed up with the screaming and took the kid somewhere else while they worked it out.”

Max laughed. “I should have stuck around to see that,” she said, nudging Alec’s shoulder with her own.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him turn back to stare at her. “Yeah, maybe,” he said eventually, his eyes still not leaving Max’s face. He didn’t nudge her shoulder back this time, though. Fidgeting a little, Max kept her eyes on the city skyline.

“What I said the other night...,” she started to say hesitantly as she risked a glance at him.

“Don’t worry about it,” Alec said as he also abruptly focused back on the view that stretched before them, before she could catch him looking.

“I guess I just-“

“Seriously, we don’t have to do this,” Alec said. His fading grin returned, but in an bright, empty parody of itself as he continued avoiding her gaze. “You weren’t interested. No big.”

Max sighed, watching him. “Joshua said you were sad this morning,” she tried again, changing tacts.

A muscle twitched in Alec’s jaw. “Joshua doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” he said. “Too many paint fumes.”

As he spoke, he started to shift as if to stand. But Max stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Alec….”

“Max,” he echoed in a far sharper tone. “Don’t.”

But he made the mistake of turning to glare at her as he said it. Max wasn’t sure what expression was on her face, but whatever it was, it brought him up short.

“I think I should,” she said. She didn’t bother to pause and try to interpret the look that crossed his face at her words, she just continued full steam ahead. “I think… maybe this doesn't need to become another thing we don’t talk about.”

Shaking his head, Alec rubbed a hand across his mouth. “You’re just lonely,” he started to say, but he faltered as he noticed Max’s eyes were fixed on his hand. “Max,” he said, his voice hoarse. “Seriously, don’t do this if-“

Instead of answering, Max reached over and tugged his hand away from his face, enfolding it in her own. She gazed down at it for a moment, her grip tightening, and then looked up at him.

Then she leaned in. She hesitated a hair’s breadth away from Alec’s mouth.

“I seem to make a habit of underestimating you,” she murmured against his lips.

Alec quickly closed the gap between them with a desperate groan.

There were no fireworks, or fancy wine. It wasn’t even a very long kiss. They collided together, and when they pulled apart they were watching each other too warily for it to be intimate or romantic. But when Max leaned in to tuck her head against his shoulder, Alec shifted to draw her close under his arm. And somehow, for just a moment, the warmth of his body against hers was the only thing that mattered.


End file.
